Wilderness Survival Tips

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Survival Situations

Wilderness survival tips

There’s no way to predict exactly which survival situations you could face when you’re heading into the backcountry wilderness, so it’s best to prepare for as many as possible. Wilderness survival requires a combination of common sense and the right tools to get you through everything from a bear attack to running out of drinking water.

Your Survival Plan

The first step in planning your survival situation plan is to assess your environment. Desert survival, for example, will be quite different from survival in a wooded forest or out on open water. Your environment will dictate which types of survival gear to pack, but there are a few fundamental items you’ll want regardless of where you’re heading:

First aid kit

Safety flares

Water purification tablets

Map and compass

Survival knife

Heated blanket

Flashlight

Matches

Survival foods, such as dehydrated meals or cured meats

There are a few outdoor survival skills you’ll want to ensure you’ve mastered as well, particularly when heading into secluded wilderness:

Fire-making

Water-rationing

Trail-marking

Heat conservation

Animal trapping or hunting

Wilderness Survival Situations

There are common wilderness situations that you can prepare for. For example, in a bear encounter it’s advised that you avoid sudden movements, stay on your feet, talk to the bear calmly, ready a can of pepper spray and begin backing away. If the bear follows, try yelling, throwing rocks and waving your arms, leaving a clear escape route for it to run away.

Hypothermia is another survival situation for which you can prepare. Always wear a floatation device, dry suit and emergency whistle or strobe light when you know you’ll be out on the water. Should you fall into icy water, the more of your body you can keep out of the water, the better to increase survival time. Unless you are near a boat or the shore and can swim to it, conserving your e...